It’s Iguana Week here at Visual Adventures where we celebrate the odd, yet somehow beautiful Galapagos iguanas. Check back each day for cool facts about these creatures along with photographs of the iguana in their native environment.

Marine iguanas are reptiles, which means they are cold blooded. In the early mornings, they are lethargic and don’t start moving about until their bodies warm up. They will sun themselves for quite some time in order to increase their body temperature high enough so they can swim under water to consume algae and seaweed. Their dark gray coloring is very efficient at absorbing sunlight and helps to quickly re-warm their systems after cold swims in the ocean. In fact, if an iguana stays in the water for too long, then they won’t have enough heat remaining in their system to function and will drown.

This young seal was playing with this marine iguana by pulling its tail. All the marine iguana wanted to do was get into the water to eat some seaweed. Nikon D800, Nikon 200-400mm f/4.

Predators of the marine iguana include the Galapagos hawk as well as cats and dogs from nearby towns. Great blue herons will also hunt small iguana hatchlings.

Our photography trips get very close to the action. Here, our team is photographing a large group of marine iguana sunning themselves on volcanic rock. Nikon D800, Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8.

Our next photo adventure to the Galapagos is set for September 5-14, 2014 and this time we’re running it in conjunction with renowned photographer Tim Vollmer of Iceland. We’ve chartered our own private expedition yacht specifically for our own use during the adventure. More info and sign up here: Galapagos and Ecuador Photography Adventure.